Lake Howell Band Marches Off To Perform In New York

November 26, 1985|By Elaine Bennett of The Sentinel Staff

Lake Howell High School's marching band flew Monday to New York City, where it will represent Florida in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

As the 10th unit in the parade, the 136-member band will appear just before the Miss America float and will perform ''Don't Rain On My Parade'' and ''Sleigh Ride'' as it passes in front of television cameras and the grandstand at Macy's, said band director Greg Martin.

The parade will be aired Thursday at 9 a.m. on NBC-TV, Channel 2.

Band members, ranging in age from 13 to 18, were filled with excitement Monday as they gathered last-minute items to load onto school buses which took them to Orlando International Airport.

Expecting below-freezing temperatures during the parade, most students purchased long underwear, jackets, gloves, and scarves, Martin said. The band will practice Wednesday to ''hopefully prepare the kids for playing their instruments in cold weather,'' he said.

The band learned in July 1984 that it had been selected to perform in the parade and has collected $102,000 to make the trip, which cost each student between $600 and $650.

About half of the money was donated by parents, and the remainder was raised through school projects such as plant and T-shirt sales, car washes, and neighborhood odd jobs during the student ''Rent-A-Kid'' program, Martin said.

Martin, 29, band director for five years, said the group has won 130 awards and 45 first-place trophies during the past 4 1/2 years, received superior ratings during the past six years in the district marching festival, and last year placed first in the national concert championship.